Portions of this patent application include materials that are subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document itself, or of the patent application as it appears in the files of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever in such included copyrighted materials.
This invention relates generally to computer systems that capture, manage and share business enterprise information. More specifically, it relates to a method and apparatus for creating and applying dynamically defined business objects used in such computer systems, for using such business objects to configure business software applications, and for facilitating the automated sharing of business information across a business enterprise or with other business enterprises or customers.
Due to the convergence of technology advances and socioeconomic forces, global electronic commerce is becoming a reality. The Internet, based on high-bandwidth communications technologies, is the vital network platform that enables all consumers and businesses on a global basis to transact business with one another. High-performance systems hardware and software provide the computing power to enable new automated commerce processes. Object-oriented software technologies enable the construction and operation of new types of rules-based business objects, applications and processes.
Notwithstanding these advances, however, a significant barrier to the automation of global commerce has remained. The proliferation of applications and information systems built on differing data, information, logic, functional, process and computing models has continued. Consequently, significant resources are wasted because of the lack of automated interaction between individuals, enterprises and computer systems.
Every business transaction involves a complex communication between the buyer and the seller. There is assumed to be a mutual understanding of both what is being acquired and what is being exchange for it. As businesses have sought to automate business transactions, efforts have been made to provide that communication and record keeping via computer systems.
One result of prior efforts to automate exchanges of fixed format definitions was the development of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which involves the transfer of data directly conforming to agreed message standards from computer to computer by electronic means. EDI, however, suffers from significant shortcomings. Although EDI provides a mutually agreed upon format for stating the item requested, the quantity, the date required, and so forth, it does not allow the syntax to be understood by two independent computer systems. EDI does not provide a definition of the specifications of the item requested by the buyer or of the specifications of the item being offered by the seller to satisfy the buyer""s request. Nor does it address dynamic object definition extension or creation and exchange of processable definitions across functional and company boundaries. Rather, EDI defines a limited number of message records as fixed arrangements of data fields. In contrast, in accordance with the invention, traditional records are replaced with dynamically created and applied definitions consisting of the defined object""s relationship to other ingrediential objects.
When the communication breaks down or the standard EDI record definition fails to keep pace, and there is a mismatch between the specifications of the buyer and the seller, an expensive process of xe2x80x9cproduct returnsxe2x80x9d begins. Most of this can be attributed to manual transposition and inadequate product requirements definition and to cultural differences in terms. This problem can be completely avoided if the specifications are shared and compared as part of the business transaction. To accomplish this there must be a machine processable mechanism to store and compare specifications that relies on the ability to process to a shared ontology. The problem of semantic communication between parties is exacerbated by the requirement to forward the communication to all the supply chain participants since that implies that the seller""s item""s component specifications must then be shared with the seller""s supplier.
In any business enterprise, information that is critical to the business needs to be exchanged or shared across the enterprise. Manufacturing companies, in particular depend upon an integrated source of product, process and facility information to run and or automate their operational and order management systems. This information must be consistent in form and accurate in content to facilitate the ordering and delivery of quality products. Unfortunately, there is a history of business enterprise information systems optimized around functional responsibilities that give secondary importance to managing product and specification data. The result is that each enterprise has a number of different systems that deal with varying aspects of the same product and specification information differently from each other. For example, the marketing system stores the marketing information one way. The manufacturing system stores some of the information. The MRP system stores some of the information. The MES system stores some of the information. The purchasing system holds some of the information. This disparity leads to information not readily exchangeable or processible by computer systems. This results in a requirement for human interfaces that introduce translation errors and time delays.
For a business enterprise to conduct business interactively on the Internet with its consumers and suppliers, there is a need for capturing and storing information in a consistent and organized fashion so that it can be processed by computer systems across separate business enterprises or by computer systems within a given enterprise. There are many benefits from having such processible specifications. For example, customers need to compare the specifications of competitors"" products in making decisions based on those specifications, such as which product to purchase. Because the present invention makes specifications processible, one can automatically verify whether a requested specification is manufacturable. In addition, information known by an enterprise""s knowledge workers can be captured and applied within the enterprise or shared with others in object specification form. For example, quality information can now be captured and managed automatically so that quality can be evaluated on the basis of what changes occurred in both specifications and processes. Consequently, quality and consistency across different work teams and time can be realized.
The ability for an object definition system invention to define anything makes it possible to create objects that can form the foundation for the ultimate order entry system, the ultimate Product Composition System, the ultimate data warehousing system, and the ultimate business collaboration framework, among others.
Until now, there has been no effective way to automate the process of comparing specifications across an industry. Computers have been largely used up to the present time in an environment of departmental acquiescence in a program-by-program, task isolated environment. Nowhere is this truer than in product definitions and specifications. Different departments within a business enterprise have used and continue to use diverse formats and representations of specification information depending on their functional responsibility within the enterprise. It follows that when there is no effective way to manage the sharing of specifications across responsibilities, each department will tend to sub-optimize the specification around its particular needs and culture. This often presents difficulties in understanding, applying, and translating specification content to those who need the information but who are outside of the engineering discipline.
Also, there has been no effective way to deal with the evolution of specifications. Attributes of an object that were not relevant to the business when a system is first used become relevant as the object finds new applications. Consider a simple example of a screw as the type of product. When the screw was first introduced as a product, it may have had only one type of configuration for the head, e.g. slotted, so there was no need for a purchaser or supplier of screws to differentiate one screw head configuration from another. However, as new screw head configurations were developed, e.g. the Phillips head, it then became important to the purchaser and supplier to differentiate the screws by their head type. A new attribute had to be added to the product specification for a screw to differentiate types of screws. Subsequently, it was discovered that a screw may make an effective control mechanism. At that point, screw thread thickness and gap needed to be added to the screw""s product specification. The lesson learned is that once successful use of an object is experienced, it and its specification will evolve.
The growth of commerce over the Internet and emerging supply-chain web environments, has created an even greater demand for a change to integrated access, definition, and execution that can transcend company and organizational dimensions. Success of supply chain and web-based market interactions will depend on the ability to exchange, compare and collaborate on specifications. To realize the full potential of Web-based commerce requires an integrated solution covering the entire value chain, i.e., an integrated solution applying to the cycles of creating new products and bringing them to market as well as to the interactions of buyers and sellers in the market. This requires a shared vision across a company out into the marketplace for the exchange and collaboration of the definitions and specifications that are the basis for web based commerce.
Disparate definitions and specifications spanning products and the capabilities that produce them are not easily reconciled into a shared ontological form. The reasons are many. First, there is an information explosion as products and capabilities become more sophisticated at an ever faster pace. Second, mechanisms offering integrative assimilation into a useful form have not yet become available. Third, should they become available they must be of a new form that will facilitate the rigor and discipline necessary to provide a repository of content that transcends individual corporate cultures and definitional preferences.
All object definitions/specifications have the potential of interrelating with other definitions/specifications within and across company boundaries. This produces an urgent mandate for a definition system that can be configured for an industry or industry group to provide a common ontology for applying and exchanging object definitions and specifications. Such a system must support end user creation of definitions/specifications through a consistent user interface for viewing, understanding, exchanging, and processing such definitions/specifications. Successful supply chains will increasingly depend on the future ability to exchange and compare specifications within a shared ontology.
Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus to solve the needs described above. Accordingly, it is a goal of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for defining, programming, configuring and executing computer processible business objects, which can transcend organizations, cultures, and engineering disciplines.
Another goal of the invention is to provide a system and method that can define, program, configure and execute a set of business objects that provide a common model of people, places, things and activities, the commerce interactions between them, the rules that govern those interactions and the business information models that result from these interactions. Such a combination of a definition system and a set of business objects can enable seamless global electronic commerce.
It is another goal of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that can define and manage the evolution of business object definitions.
It is another goal of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that is open and extensible.
It is another goal of the invention to provide a method and apparatus for specification collaboration that facilitates business between members of a supply-chain.
It is still another goal of the invention to provide a system that provides dynamic object definition.
It is still another goal of the invention to provide a system that provides dynamic definition of attributes and object relationships.
It is still another goal of the invention to provide a system that provides dynamic definition of relationships to external objects.
It is still another goal of the invention to provide a system that provides dynamic rendering relationships.
It is still another goal of the invention to provide a system that provides optional revision control with content and composition effectivities for attributes and all relationships.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a system that can build business software applications by combining these dynamic object definitions.
It is still another goal of the invention to provide a method and system for defining business objects across a company out into the marketplace for the exchange and collaboration of the definitions and specifications within a shared ontology. Such a system will become key to web-based commerce.
It is another goal of the present invention, therefore, to provide a specification management system that enables the dynamic definition and execution of all business objects required in the conduct of business.
Another goal of the present invention is to provide a demand satisfaction system that is used to model, define and execute the life cycle of a variety of demands that exist in global commerce, both within and between enterprises.
Yet another goal of the present invention is to provide the ability to extend the definition of the apparatus itself in order to define and build new commerce actors and processes.
Additional goals and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description, which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The goals and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing goals, and in accordance with the purposes of the invention as embodied and broadly described in this document, we have provided a method and system for creating and applying business objects that take the form of dynamically managed definitions. The method and system is based on an open and extensible object definition framework that manages definitions as specifications. The method and system provides the means for defining any business object needed in a business system regardless of its scope and type.
In accordance with the invention, an open and extensible object definition framework is provided for managing business object definitions as specifications. The framework is based on the assumption that that the definition of anything and everything will evolve over time. Attributes of business objects that are not relevant when a system is first used may become relevant as the object finds new applications.
All object definitions/specifications have the potential of interrelating with other definitions/specifications within and across company boundaries. This produces an urgent mandate for a definition system that can be configured for an industry or industry group to provide a common ontology a collaborative environment for applying and exchanging object definitions and specifications. Such a system must support end user creation of definitions/specifications through a consistent user interface for the viewing, understanding, exchanging, and processing said definitions/specifications.
A system in accordance with the invention provides the means for defining any object regardless of its scope and type. When applied to a specific object environment, the business object definition system can be used to build a business application, such as a Product Composition System (PCS) for managing the definition of products, specifications, customer preferences, processes, manufacturing and facility capabilities, resources, drawings, instructions, and industry standards. Other environments include customer profiles, application software objects such as orders and inventory, location networks, et. al. Additional uses of the system include: Product Definitions, Specification Management, Product Catalogs, Process Directory, Situational Index, Expert Assistant/Advisor, Problem Identification, Problem Resolution and an Education/Training Application Menu.
The invention provides a shared vision across a company out into the marketplace for the exchange and collaboration of the definitions and specifications that are the basis for web based commerce. It provides a framework for an integrated solution covering the entire value chain to provide a total solution. An integrated solution applying to the cycles of creating new products and bringing them to market as well as to the interactions of buyers and sellers in the market. The invention provides the ability to exchange and compare and collaborate on specifications, on which the success of supply chain and web based market interactions will depend.
The invention may be used to define any object that is to be processed by a computer. Objects can include Properties, Classifications, Knowledge, Business Objects, and Business Rules to name a few. Typical Business Objects include: Business and social entities; Locations including spaces, places, and channels; Activity including events and processes; Items including products and services; Business Records including orders and other forms of demand, inventory, jobs, deliverables, statements, transaction history et. al.
The present invention allows one to formally define the themes, then to define each instance as a combination of objects and instance variables within a context and a role. In addition, one can define specification attributes as individual values or derive them via formula or Boolean logic that considers other attributes of the specification. When one makes the formulas part of the criteria that are inherited by individual specification instances, one can effectively create unique, fully complete specifications by simply entering the variation parameter values.
The applicability of an aspect of definition content can be defined as a specification to control and/or assist in the creation of appropriate content. Such applicabilities can take into account the content of other objects. By way of example, capability models and specifications can be set up for each manufacturing facility. Having done so, one can check each generated specification to insure that it is still within the processing capabilities of the manufacturing facilities.
The capabilities of this invention include ontology definition and execution, defining and applying business objects, providing a common view of products and processes, demand satisfaction management, and providing a common view of supply and demand. A brief discussion of each of these capabilities follows.
In accordance with the invention, industry-specific ontologies, consisting of object taxonomies, attributes and attribute values can be defined and can be executed. In understanding and applying the invention to the task of managing industry and company ontologies as well in applying an ontology to the definition and creation of business objects definitions of the terms xe2x80x9contology,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9ctaxonomyxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cbusiness lexiconxe2x80x9d are useful. An xe2x80x9contologyxe2x80x9d is a set of abstract concepts that defines the area of common interest within a particular community. It is the theory of what the world is, or xe2x80x9ccontains.xe2x80x9d A xe2x80x9ctaxonomyxe2x80x9d is a division into ordered groups or categories, such as a classification of objects in an ordered system that indicates or features natural relationships. Industry-specific ontologies, consisting of object taxonomies, attributes and attribute values can be defined. Attributes can be organized into specifications. These specifications can be organized into various conceptual structures that represent the taxonomies of a given industry vertical or product group. This ontology definition drives a dynamic user interface that enables the user to create, extend and use the ontology to process specifications. A xe2x80x9cbusiness lexiconxe2x80x9d is the set of actual terms used within a particular human activity system, where a term can be a word or a set of words.
Also in accordance with the invention, attributes can be organized into specifications that define any object or area of knowledge. Examples of such specifications include industry standards, organization profiles, products, processes, customer preferences, logistics requirements and financial arrangements, among others. The invention provides advanced functionality that operates on these specifications. Examples of such functionality include defining, finding, selecting, copying, comparing, combining and many others. The invention provides many sample definitions of business objects. Some illustrative examples of such business objects include customer, product, location, demand, order and workflow, among many others.
In accordance with the invention, all expressions of buyer preferences and requirements and seller offerings and capabilities, as well as the commerce processes buyers and sellers use to interact, can be stored as specifications. Thus, the invention provides all users with a common view of product and process. This capability is further enhanced where there is agreement within a company or an industry or globally for using the same ontology lexicon source.
In accordance with the invention, one can model, define and execute commerce processes used to satisfy the demands that exist between buyers and sellers. These demand life cycles are the core processes of commerce. Examples include Customer Order, Purchase Order and many others. In accordance with the invention, one can define and build new commerce types. It includes several built examples, including xe2x80x9cBuy From Inventory,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cMake-To-Orderxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cNegotiated Bid.xe2x80x9d The invention includes a workflow component that automates these processes.
In addition to common definitions of product and process, the invention provides a common view of supply and demand. Buyers and sellers transact business using a common view of demand satisfaction. The invention captures and summarizes all interactions between buyers and sellers.
Because of these capabilities, the invention enables users to participate in automated commerce based on well-defined, computer processable business objects that provide a common definition and execution of commerce processes. As a result of the specification management system, the demand satisfaction system and the underlying method for defining, programming, configuring and executing computer processible business objects, this method enables electronic commerce to be automated and seamless.
The invention provides the capability to build business applications for any market (e.g., private/public, buy/sell), anyone (e.g., Buyer, Seller, Broker, Market maker), anywhere (e.g., having currency, language and unit-of-measure independence), anytime (24xc3x977, Internet, Extranet, Intranet), for any demand (e.g., sales order, purchase order), for any product (MTS, MTO, ATO, ETO), for an service (e.g., advertising, consulting, people, etc.) and for any process (from simple to complex).
One exemplary embodiment of an application constructed in accordance with the invention is a Product Composition System application for managing the definition of products, specifications, customer preferences, processes, manufacturing and facility capabilities, resources, drawings, instructions, and industry standards. The Product Composition System can be applied to the products and specifications of any supply chain business environment.
Another exemplary embodiment of an application constructed in accordance with the invention is an Internet-enabled order management system for complex, attribute-based products and business processes. The order management system can capture an order and direct the order through the supply chain of an enterprise and extended enterprise. The order management system is uniquely suited to providing order management in non-SKU environments in process industries such as metals, paper and pulp, and textiles, as well as being suited to providing order management in SKU environments.
Yet another exemplary embodiment of an application constructed in accordance with the invention is a customer ordering system, which provides a system for customer self-service order management. With the customer application, product suppliers can post their product catalog on the Internet, making it directly available to their customers. Those customers can then use the Internet to browse or search through posted inventory and create orders for selected products.
Another exemplary embodiment of an application constructed in accordance with the invention is a customer ordering application, which provides order entry over the Internet, allowing customers direct and easy access to the order management system.
Still another exemplary embodiment is managed bid or negotiated bid application, which enables buyers and sellers to negotiate for products and services over a computer network, such as the Internet, by creating postings, bidding on postings, and countering these bids.
The invention can be used to support design collaboration among and between engineers and designers in different collaborating companies in a supply chain. In fact, the invention could be used to in any business system to manage products and specifications as the core data that serve to automate pricing based on product attributes, scheduling, promising, capacity commitment, material allocation and the like.
The invention, however, is not limited in its application only to the exemplary areas or environments. Rather, it can be applied to any business environment. Some examples of other such business environments include customer profiles, application software objects such as orders and inventory, location networks, and business system processes. Additional uses of the system can include product definitions, specification management, product catalogs, process directory, situational index, expert assistant/advisor, problem identification, and problem resolution education/training curricula.
Because of the capabilities provided by the invention, all users of this invention can participate in automated commerce based on well-defined computer processable business objects that provide a common definition and execution of commerce processes. As a result of the specification management system, the demand satisfaction system and the underlying method for defining, programming, configuring and executing computer processible business objects, the invention enables global electronic commerce to be automated and seamless.
In summary, the characteristics of the invention include providing a single point for exchanging definitions and specifications involving products, capabilities, processes, and capacities. All objects have the same definitional form making it possible to compose and/or to compare them. The form of object definitions/specifications is consistent across functional and organizational boundaries. An ontology can be applied or will evolve providing a shared language for all participants of the business that results in synergistic activity. Knowledge can be managed as non-redundant chunks of applied or composable knowledge. Benefits include standardization and consistency of definition. Definitions are an intuitive read because the ontology and definition approach allows one to avoid cryptic codes. A company can share one ontology across all systems, including legacy systems that import or export business object definition system definitions. Moreover, ontologies can be shared at industry and global levels in business-to-business settings. Terms in the ontology can be used directly, thus avoiding reliance on cryptic codes.